Russia Requires Popular Bloggers to Register

Russian president Vladimir Putin cranks down further on internet and press freedom by quietly signing into law a new “Blogger’s Law” on Monday.

According to the NY Times, the new legislation states that “any site with more than 3,000 visitors daily will be considered a media outlet akin to a newspaper and be responsible for the accuracy of the information published” and must register with the government.

What this means is that any blogger with a large following will have to register and tie what used to be somewhat anonymous speech with verifiable identification. In doing so the Russian government will be able to more closely monitor (and control) what it’s citizens are saying on the internet.

Along with reports of increased monitoring and filtering of Russian TV, news media and newspapers, this is yet another move by Putin to control free speech. And with the recent mass protests in Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine it makes you wonder if those “Pro-Russian” forces in Eastern Ukraine really understand what system that they are embracing.